Lifeline Discount Phone Services

The Lifeline program is designed to increase the availability of telecommunications services to low income subscribers by providing a discount of up to $9.25 per month off the cost of wireline or wireless telephone service. Enhanced benefits are available to low-income subscribers who live on federally recognized Indian Tribal lands, with monthly discounts of up to $34.25.

Lifeline is supported by the federally-mandated Universal Service Fund. Federal rules prohibit eligible consumers from receiving more than one Lifeline discount per household, and the discount is available for either a wireline or a wireless service, but not both.

To be eligible to receive the Lifeline discount, a consumer must be a current recipient of any one of the following low income assistance programs:

Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)

Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

Medicaid

Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

Federal Public Housing Assistance/Section 8

National School Lunch Program’s free lunch program

Head Start Program (if eligibility criteria are met)

Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance

Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TTANF)

Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations (FDPIR)

Consumers whose total gross annual income does not exceed one hundred and thirty-five percent (135%) of the Federal Poverty Guidelines are also eligible for Lifeline.

How to apply:

If you are eligible, contact a telephone company that serves your area and ask them to mail you a Lifeline application form.

Complete the form and mail it to the telephone company. Your discount begins when the telephone company gets the approved form.

Note: Proof of eligibility is required, and subscribers must recertify their eligibility each year.

We Can Help

If you have a consumer complaint, contact us for help or call toll free within North Carolina at 1-877-5-NO-SCAM.